Keith -

Which version of Excel 2007? I had a lot of trouble with this kind of thing
in earlier beta versions, but I recall that in B2TR it wasn't too bad. I
don't recall if it was completely fixed, but I was no longer swearing at it.
For that reason.

- Jon
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Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
Tutorials and Custom Solutions
http://PeltierTech.com
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"keithrmanning" wrote in message
oups.com...
I use form controls (not ActiveX) extensively in Excel 2003. I also use
pictures to make the workbooks more attractive.

When I open these workbooks in 2007 the order (front to back) of the
pictures and controls is different from 2003. Even worse, I cannot
reset the order in 2007.

In 2003 the form controls and pictures were in the same order
hierarchy. So, you could have some form controls in front of a picture
and other controls behind it (** see below for explanation of why I
want to do this). In 2007 all form controls are in front of all
pictures (or so it seems). Bringing a picture to the front still leaves
it behind all controls - or sending a control to the back still leaves
in in front of all pictures. If you open the selection pane (in Page
Layout) it provides a list of pictures whose order can be rearranged,
but it does not list any controls - again indicating that they are not
in the same heirarchy.

This is a big compatibility problem for me as it appears that my
extensive collection of tools will look different (and pretty crappy)
in 2007 - so much for compatibility. It would also take away a useful
feature for developing new tools.

I'm hoping that I have missed something and someone will be able to
tell me how to make my 2003 workbooks work properly in 2007.

** I'm sure some people are saying "Why would you want to put a form
control behind a picture? It would be hidden and useless." One example
is group boxes. They are ugly black boxes that you can't format; by
placing them behind a picture they still perform their function (like
grouping a set of radio buttons) but they are hidden from view. There
are lots of other more subtle tricks that involve combining hidden form
objects with pictures or other graphic objects. All of these will be
incompatible and will go away if MS has really changed the architecture
of layers in this incompatible way. Another reason this is important is
that form objects are not "macros" and don't cause the workbook to
require macro execution to be enabled; thus, you can build quite
powerful interactive tools that will run on any Office installation
without warning messages or requiring macros to be enabled. That's why
I use form objects rather than ActiveX or macros for these tools. It
will be a sad blow if MS has eliminated this power in 2007.

Keith